Recently, I was walking around the S.I mall with my mom shopping for some new and improved Summer clothes. I mostly ask my mom to come with me since she's my biggest, (but greatest), critic. As we make our way towards Forever21, we begin to look around. Scoping out the new arrivals and styles, my mom shoots me a look that made me feel like I had seven heads. I asked her what was up and she lowered her voice and asked me if we were in the little girl's section by accident. I started to laugh at my mom's innocent, but dead serious, question. I have to say, I did agree with her.
Now, my all around size in a shirt is usually a size medium. As I went to pick up a cute, "going out" shirt, I didn't believe my eyes. This shirt looked like it would fit a ten-year-old. But no ten-year-old I know was leaving their house with that kind of shirt on. I asked myself "What the f- Forever21?"
I'm not calling out just Forever21 for their unusual sizes in clothing but actually most women's clothing stores. I find myself being a different size for every store and it's becoming a bit ridiculous AND frustrating. I spoke amongst my close girlfriend's if they were experiencing the same problem. Surprisingly, they all agreed. One of my closest friends who is short and petite told me how she finds it difficult to find shorts that will fit her thighs and assets but not her waist. Another complained how all she wanted was to find the perfect pair of blue jeans and couldn't even find success in that. My sister and I always find ourselves, when we're shopping, wanting to be able to wear that cute crop top; but ends up only fitting us halfway and the shirt ending right under our bust.
Women's clothes have been shrinking for decades. Statics show that between the years 1950-2000's, a "normal" women's waistline has gone down, down, down. We're talking about a size 8, to a 6, 4, 2, 0, and we've reached 00. This is most likely why popular clothing stores such as Forever21 have picked up the trend of "the 00 size". Therefore, developing the make of clothing to become minuscule and making it difficult for girls to shop.
The clothing industry should really sit back and think about how they are making young women feel when they go shopping for an outfit. Instead of making women feel "so fat" or "too curvy", they should make them feel beautiful and make better, form-fitting clothing so women will embrace their curves; not be shameful towards them.
